Track and Field Compete at Little East/New England Alliance Championship

Apr 28, 2012

WESTFIELD, Mass. – At the 2012 outdoor Little East Conference/New England Alliance Championship meet UMass Boston put together another strong day of performances as the men's team finished in 5th/7th place, while the women recorded a 6th place finish in the Little East Conference championship.

Headlining Saturday's meet were first place finishes by freshmen standouts Kebba Nasso (Attleboro, Mass.) and Carl Joseph (Brockton, Mass.). Nasso sprinted his way to his second gold medal of the year in the 400 meter dash with a time of 48.86 seconds. Joseph's performance in the high jump not only set a new program record, but it also currently has him ranked third in the country in the event as well. With a height of 6-10.25 feet, Joseph has quickly moved up the national standings since joining the program in March.

On the women's side Ari Leao (New Bedford, Mass.) posted a sixth place finish in the 400 meter dash with her time of 1:02.18. Samara Faustin (Boston, Mass.) ran away with a third place finish in the 200 meter dash with her final time of 26.55 seconds. In the pole vault event, Jacqueline Conway (East Longmeadow, Mass.) recorded a height of 7-10.75 feet to finish in 4th and 10th place respectively.

In the discus throw it was Brittany Moore who led the way for UMass as she took 10th place overall with a final throw of 85-07 feet. Behind her was Anitra Kloczewiak (Newton, Mass.) in 12th (82-00), followed by Nicole Aube (Westfield, Mass.) in 13th ( 73-07), Chrissy Soares-Fernandes (Brockton, Mass.) in 14th (73-01), and Kaity Merrikin (East Bridgewater, Mass.) in 17th (62-05).

Both Aube and Soares-Fernandes finished in the top-10 in the shot put with throws of 27-07.50 and 27-01.75 feet respectively.

Back on the men's side Tylor Hart (Newton, Mass.) leaped his way to two second place finishes as he recorded a final distance of 20-11.75 feet in the long jump, followed by a final height of 6-07.00 feet in the high jump.

Henry Morales (Chelsea, Mass.) would take fourth in the long jump with a final mark of 20-10.50 feet. Ervin Lofton (Ann Arbor, Mich.) would follow suit in the high jump as he recorded a final height of 6-04.00 feet. Lenford Coote (Brooklyn, N.Y.) threw his way to a sixth place finish in the shot put with a toss of 31-06.00 feet. In the triple jump it was Nasso who took fourth (43-11.25), followed by Hamza Abdul (Chelsea, Mass.) in sixth (42-10.75).

Earlier in the afternoon Xhulio Uruci (Newton, Mass.) crossed the finish line in seventh place in the 1,500 meter run with his time of 4:03.89. Running mate Jake Kerin (Quincy, Mass.) would then lead the way in the 800 meter run with a time of 1:59.25. Morales and Andre Malcolm (Cambridge, Mass.) would later earn a fourth and fifth place finish respectively in the 400 meter hurdles. Morales crossed the finish line with a time of 57.48 seconds, followed by Malcolm's time of 58.66 seconds. In the pole vault Kirby Cole (Shrewsbury, Mass.) posted a height of 12-03.50 feet to finish in third place overall.

Track and Field returns to action on May 4 when they compete in the two-day NCAA Division III New England Regional meet, which will be hosted by MIT in Cambridge.